I opened the trade window again and deposited five steel cans and five aluminum. If this trash actually had some sort of use, it would be a godsend. Even if they couldn’t become ingots, it was chump change. It didn’t really matter if I had them or not.
“Thank you, Kizuna! This might just be a gold mine!”
“Yeah, if you do hit it big, make sure to give me a piece of the pie.”
“Of course! I’ll look into it right away!”
Like a fish given water, Alto energetically waved his hand and ran off. I just knew he’d give me the results within an hour.
“I have a lot more money now. Maybe I should get some equipment.”
For my weapon, I could request one made as part of the information fee—if the metal smelting worked out. That left armor. At present, I lacked any form of combat skills, so a light outfit suited me just fine.
For shoes... I fished up boots. Can I wear them?
I took the boots out of my inventory, stripped off the starter shoes I was wearing, and stuck my feet into them.
“I didn’t think it would actually work...”
And there was a young girl wearing oversized galoshes. With a raincoat and yellow umbrella, the endearing image would have been complete.
All jokes aside, I should go to the armor store and find a player selling clothing.
Still wearing the boots, I started on my way.
†
Let’s talk results. My intuition had hit the mark, and the empty cans could be converted into aluminum and iron ingots. The fact that we couldn’t get steel probably had to do with game balance. I felt some meddling on management’s part.
Alto and his blacksmith friend covered up the information. I’d secretly fish up empty cans by the boatload, and discreetly hand them over. Rinse and repeat... I spent my time making the big bucks.
†
The day after I started selling empty cans, Kanade and Tsumugi met up at the hunting ground to discuss their thoughts on the weapons they’d chosen.
“Hup!”
Tsumugi took a swipe at the Dark Porcupi that rushed her.
“Oh... One-shot with a basic attack! That’s more than twice the damage I’ve been dealing!”
“Forget about the bronze weapons in the shop, this is even better than the weapon drops we’re getting out here. I was right to buy one.”
“You got one too, Kanade?”
“Yes, though it was a bit pricey. But I think the performance matches the cost.”
“One of the crafter players said it’s low quality, but it’s more than usable.”
“Right?”
As they chatted, their respective parties were both attacked by Ad Balloons: formidable foes from the nearby field that took on the shape of large balloons with faces.
“Wind Slice!”
Tsumugi swung her Iron Sickle, while Kanade used a sword to deflect its powerful bite. There was a massive pop as their weapons both tore through the Balloons and caused them to burst.
“They must have found an iron mine already. I wonder where they found that?”
“The crafter said he didn’t really know. There’s a player that has iron, but they won’t say where they’re getting it from.”
“Oh... I think I heard that too. Well, it’s still early game, so first come, first served, I guess.”
“Something’s off, though... A player who was gathering info from the NPCs said that iron equipment was only supposed to be available after reaching the Second City. That’s what the NPCs are saying, at least.”
“You can’t access the Second City until someone clears the unlock quest, right? I tried challenging the boss, but I got done in pretty bad... It’ll be hard unless I level up a bit and get better equipment.”
“No, it’s probs a raid boss. We’ll barely be able to beat it if we get a bunch of people together.”
“I guess so. So who’s going to rally the troops first...? It’ll be first come, first served.”
“Naturally!”
By that point, the sisters had finished testing out their new equipment.
“The monsters in this hunting ground are starting to feel too weak. I’m thinking of finding a new place.”
“You too? Well...this equipment is amazing. How far do you think we can go with it?”
“Some people are already saying they’ll try the unlock quest with this equipment. Maybe it’s doable now?”
“Maybe so! Ah, that’s right. You know that field that only appears at night? It might be easy picking with this equipment too. I’m thinking that’s the best hunting spot from now on.”
“Oh... I remember seeing a kid using a fan weapon out there. She was putting up a good fight with bronze equipment. I’d imagine she wants to challenge the unlock quest with the drops she gets there.”
“I think I know who you’re talking about! The pretty player with the Japanese flair, right?”
“We can’t fall behind, can we?”
“I’m not going to lose to you either, Kanade.”
“I could say the same to you.”
“What do you think big bro’s doing now?”
“It’s him we’re talking about. He’s probably fishing like he said he would be.”
“Yeah, he tends to lose himself in minigames. Once we’ve got a stable thing going over here, we need to invite him out to hunt.”
“That kid’s convinced himself that he has terrible athletic abilities, but this is a game. We’ve got to show him how to have fun with it.”
“Yeah! Ah! Looks like the boss has spawned!”
“Hey, wait! I’ve got first dibs! Fast Bash!”
Kanade succeeded in getting a preemptive strike on the Violin Beedle—a rhinoceros beetle-shaped boss monster that used an instrument as its weapon. She parried its counterattack with her shield just in time for Tsumugi to join in with her Iron Sickle.
“No fair, sis! I was going for it.”
“We’re all aiming for the same thing! The headpiece this thing drops sells for a fortune!”
“You’re not even equipping it?! But it’s so cute!”
“What’s the use in focusing on appearance when the game’s just begun? It’ll be outclassed soon enough—though I’ll admit, it’s pretty good right now.”
“This is our chance! Wind Slice! Wind Slice! Windmill! Everyone! Snatch those drop rights away from big sis’s party!”
Tsumugi’s comrades nodded at her words before raining down upon the Violin Beedle.
“Ah! C’mon, people! If you let them take this from us, we’ll have waited around for nothing! All together now!”
“On it! Follow Kanade’s lead!”
Kanade’s and Tsumugi’s parties got fired up to take the boss down.
“I got it! Tadaa!”
Having obtained the Emerald Ribbon dropped by the Violin Beedle, Tsumugi fastened it to her hair and struck a pose. After the items had dropped, there was a brief rock-paper-scissors match to decide who got what, and this was the result. Her victory was met with some applause.
“Good grief... You got the drops this time, but I’ll have no mercy next time.”
“Naturally! If there is a next time, I’m not going to lose either!”
“Let’s move on to the next one, everyone! Use the money from this hunt to get some of that iron equipment that’s entered the market!”
“Right on!”
Now that they’d finished exchanging information, Kanade and Tsumugi went their separate ways to hunt their separate game.
In five days, those who’d managed to assemble ample equipment put their strength together and succeeded in unlocking the Second City. In the field beyond the Second City, they discovered a quarry where iron ores could be excavated.
†
Five days after I began making a killing with empty cans, they finally found a place where they could mine iron ore. As it turned out, the quality of the ingots made from empty cans wasn’t very high, and my profits naturally declined. After a brief talk with Alto, we decided to call it quits on the empty can business.
Regardless, my early investment in the can boom meant that I had quite a bit of Serin to my name. I even got a reliable businessman named Alto on my friend list.
On a side note, I bought a cooking knife to see if using it would be the same as dismantling. Even if I went through my usual dismantling process without acquiring Culinary Art, I could only produce slices of fish meat with it. It didn’t yield any other materials. This seemed to be a very similar, yet separate system.
“Hit me up if you have another profitable idea,” Alto told me.
He probably had a decent impression of me.
Also, for reasons unknown, I could only fish up Empty Cans at night.
Alto publicized my findings alongside the depreciation of iron. Eventually, this became a semicommon way of making money for both broke players with fishing skills and broke players with smithing skills.